Round-Up: X Quest, Ecko Speaks, German Wrecks, CoD2 Fixes

Today's news round-up includes further details on the X Quest TV Show/MMORPG hybrid, the latest defensive comments from Marc Ecko's Getting Up producer Marc Ecko, and the enhancement of Call of Duty 2's online code, as well as the latest GameSetWatch posts and Gamasutra job listings, plus a clarification regarding former Gizmondo executive Stefan Erikkson's wrecked Ferrari.

- More details have surfaced on on X Quest, the hybrid reality TV show/MMORPG from Spectrum Media Works and Imagine Entertainment. Spectrum's Alex Seropian confirms that the game will ship simultaneously with the sci-fi "reality show" debut, though no specific date has been selected. Players of the game will be able to interact with the 14 contestants on the show, who will enter a simulated spaceship for the duration of a month. "The prime reason why the game industry is outpacing cinema, and will eventually outpace television, is that huge numbers of people have demonstrated a desire to immerse and interact," Spectrum cofounder Banister said. "X Quest is the first, but certainly not the last."

- Marc Ecko spoke to Metro New York, answering critics of his recently released Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. "I would say there are gamers that have a predisposition to have a bug up their ass for anything urban. The fact that there was a black character on the cover of this game, right away there was a dismissiveness that this was just another GTA: San Andreas, thatís number one," said the clothing designer, who branched out into video game production with Getting Up. "There are guys that have a predisposition to be slaves to the code, rather than be slaves to the branding, products or experience. At the end of the day, itís going to be the consumer who decides and not whether the camera makes a difference."

- Infinity Ward, developers of Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360, announced on the game's forums that enhancements and bug fixes for the game's online implementation will soon be released as a downloadable patch. Lag will be greatly lessened, and a number of new features including private lobbies, custom game options, enemy player name notifications, and others will be added. "Weíre happy to report that this update is currently in the final stages of testing and all is going well," said an Infinity Ward representative. "In fact, we will be releasing it soon, so stay tuned."

"Lead programmer Otto Zweihallen would like to officially state that he is not the imaginary German driver, Dietrich, involved in Gizmondo executive Stefan Eriksson's recent Ferrari accident. Although he shares a love of fast, expensive cars that dramatically shatter into many pieces, Otto is a completely different imaginary German. He went on to add that: 'Eriksson may have totaled one million-dollar-sports car, but I have personally totaled twelve-and-a-half sports cars, each worth approximately $80,000 US dollars'. In fact, he once drove a Lotus Esprit V8 off a very high cliff near Berchtesgaden and walked away unharmed. Zweihallen described the experience as 'probably much like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, but with slightly nicer upholstery'."